Improved poisiton-boat



y UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT PALLET'I, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVED PoNToN-BOAT.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 40,706, dated November 24, ICS.

To all whom 'it may Concern: l

Be it known that I, ROBERT PALLE'r'r, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pontons; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full and exact description of the same, reference being had to the aeeompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a side elevation of a ponton'- boat, illustrating my invention, the wheels on one side and parts of the shell ot" the boat be ing removed. Fig. 2 is afront elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a plan of the sa1ne,partly in sec tion. The above views represent the boat set upon its wheels, ready for transportation on land. Figs. 4 and 5 are plans, partly in section, of the stern and bow of the boat as prepared for use in the water. Fig. 6 is an elevation of a bridge constructed with my im proved pontons.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views.

The subject of my said invention is a ponton, constituting when in the water a boat to support a bridge by flotation, and when on land a wagon adapted to be drawn from place to place on its own wheels and also to convey the other materials of the bridge.

The invention further consists in a peculiar construction of swinging bolster to facilitate the mounting and removal of the front wheels, as hereinafter explained, also, in the use of swiveled chains to secure the said bolster in the required position also, in devices for mounting and facilitating the removal of the rear wheels.

In order that others skilled in the art to which my invention appertains may be enabled to fully understand and use the same, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

Areprepresents aboat, constructed of sheetiron, with hollow sides, forming air-tight ehambers,to insure flotation. To the sides of the boat, near one end, are securely attached strong brackets .B B, formed with dovetail grooves *orcavities tapering upward, so as to receive and' hold blocks or knees O C, provided with stud-shafts D D, upon which the rear wheels, E E, turn. The blocks O are held in an upward direction to support the wagon by their tapering form and that of the grooves in which they t. They may be held from dropping out, when the wheels are not resting on the ground, by means of horizontal pins c c. The aXle F ot' the front wheels, Gr G,isat tached by a king-bolt, H, to a bolster, I, which is provided with arms I I', the upper ends of which are jointed at t to the frame of the boat, so as to admit of being placed in a nearly vertical position, as shown by full lines in Fig. 1, when the boat is supported on its wheels, or in a nearly horizontal position, as shown in dotted lines, when the boat is afloat or for taking off or putting on the wheels.

J J are chains attached at their forward ends to the bolster I, and having at their other ends hooks jj, to hitch into staples or eyes K K or the sides of the boat, so as to bear the forward draft upon the bolster and retain it in its lower position. v

L L are swivel-screws by which the chains are drawn tight, and the bolster I drawn forcibly under the bottom of the boat to support its weight and relieve the pivots t. When the bolster is to be held in its upper position, this may be effected by hitching the chains J J to hooks M M, or other suitable fastenin gs within the boat.

N represents a nut by which the axle F is confined upon the bolt H.

O represents a portion of the draft-pole, which may be provided with hooks o o, to hitch into staples f f upon the axle F.

P P are string-pieces,provided at their ends with hooks or projecting plates p p, which rest against the sides of the boats in manner clearly shown in Fig. 6, so as to hold the boats in position, and constitute the lower longitudinal beams of the bridge. Upon these are fixed a second series of beams, P P', of the same length as the beams P P, but so placed as to break joints therewith, and the whole are firmly secured together by bolts Q Q.

R R represent planks forming the roadway of the bridge.

Operation: When the materials for the bridge are to be moved from place to place on land, the: parts are secured in the manner already explained in the positions represented in Figs. l, 2, and 3. Boats are thus adapted to be drawn over any ordinary roads with as much facility as a common wagon, and to carry all the other materials for the bridge. To set the boats afloat they are backed into the water until the hind wheels are raised from the hottom, when the pins c c are withdrawn and the wheels slipped down out of their sockets and taken up into the boat. To facilitate this and avoid danger ot' accident the blocks C C may be connected to the boat by slack chains. To remove the i'ront wheels the cha-ins J J are iirst slackened and then unhitched from the staples K K, when the bolster I may bedrawn forward and upward to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. l, and there secured by bitching the chains J J within the boat, as before explained, and as represented in'Figs. 5 and 6. The draftpole O may then be unhitched, and, by taking oft the nut N,the axle F, with the wheels G G attached,may be removed from the bolster l, and the whole placed in the boat. To again adapt the boat for transportation on land the above actions are simply reversed, and the boat drawn from the water upon its own Wheels. It will thus be seen that the ent-ire operations of launching the boa-t, removing from the water, and adapting it for land transportation are performed without any heavy lifting or other severe manual labor. One or two men, with a suitable team, can do the whole work with perfect ease.

A scow constructed as above described, eighteen feet long,four and one-half feet wide, and two and one-half feet deep, will weigh, empty, about one thousand one hundred pounds, and when loaded with its proportion ot the materials of the bridge about one ton. Its capacity of iiotation will be live tons, with the sides of the boat eight inches out of the water. It will thus be understood that it constitutes a very eiicient ponton, as well as being so easily handled.

Having thus described my invention, what l claim as new, and desire to secure by Let ters Patent, is

1. The combination, with a ponton-boat of the construction described, of the swinging bolster L L/and swiveled chains J L, constructed, arranged, and operating in the manner and for the purpose specified.

2. In a ponton-boat, constructed substantially as specified, the combination of the blocks C C with the dovetail'tapering sockets B B, to permit the ready insertion and removal of the wheels E E.

3. A convertible ponton-boat, constructed and arranged as herein represented and described, with removable wheels applied as specified, to permit of its ready adaptation for use as a boat or for transportation on land upon its own wheels.

The above specification of my improved ponton-boat signed this 18th day of September, 1863.

ROBERT PALLETT. Witnesses Oo'rnviUs KNIGHT, CHARLES DUBOIS. 

